College Swim Club

The End of an Era

David McCullagh 1958 - 2002 By Sweeney (Feb 2003)

Most of you will be aware that the building across the School yard is the College Swimming pool but few of you may be fully aware of the long and accomplished history that Templeogue College has in Irish Swimming at schools, provincial, national and international level.

Throughout my time in the College and the swimming Club I was both coached and mentored by a man who was also an ex-pupil of Templeogue College. That man was David McCullagh (left) who unfortunately for Irish Swimming passed away late last year. David will be a huge loss to Irish Sport and the sport of Swimming.

For 23 years he was manager of Templeogue Swimming Pool and commenced coaching the school team at the age of 16. Templeogue Swimming Club was started from two lanes in a public hour and has been built in to a very successful club that continues to produce many fine swimmers up to national and international level.

Currently Templeogue Swim Club has c. 130 members ranging in age from 8 to 23. Swimmers train anything from two to 18 hours a week. The Club recruits members from the classes that are run in the pool and children from all over the surrounding area have been members of the Templeogue Swim Club. The Club has consistently placed representatives on Leinster, Irish and International Teams and has continues to produce top athletes in the sport. Currently, there are 9 members on the Irish National Squad and the club will have representatives on the 2003 Irish International Schools Team and European Youth Olympic Team. There are also a number of the senior members currently preparing for selection for the European Short Course Championships in Abbotstown in December 2003. While the swimmers in the Club come from schools all over the area, the Templeogue College Schools swimming team was essentially where the club started.

I have recently found some of the very earliest records of the Templeogue College Swim Team from the 1974/75 season. At this time the pool was privately managed but the college had a team that was coached by “Father Cooper”. The team back then was producing the same quality results as it does today. The 1974/1975 team was as follows Under 13 (born 1962) John Houlihan, Frank Vaughan, Gerard Conlon, Martin Ring, Gay Brennan, Roe, Joe Sinclair, Joe Mullally, Declan Doran, Mark Davis & Killian Fisher

Under 14 (born 1961) Brian Farnan, Michael McCann, Mark Keane, Paddy Loughman, Brian Harman, Paul Connell, Dunne, Paul Sinclair, William Dawson, Larry Dawson & Ciaran Doran.

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Under 15 (born 1960) Farrelly, Aidan Kearney, Frank McCann, Terry Taylor & Paul Feehan

Under 16 (born 1959) Kieran Dawson, Matthew Kenny, John Doyle, Kevin Scully, Stephen Kenny & Andy Hughes

Senior (born 1958 or earlier) Tom O’Gallagher, Pat Mullally, Joe Tiernan & Kieran Arigho

From the early 1970’s Templeogue College dominated Irish swimming at both school and club level. The 1974/75 Schools Results read as follows

Leinster Schools Championships Pts Irish Schools Championships Pts 1 Templeogue College 112 1 Templeogue College 98 2 41 2 R.B.A.I. 83 3 38 3 Coleraine 41 St Vincents 38 CBC Cork 40 5 32 5 Douglas CS 30 6 St Pauls 31 6 Blackrock College 29 7 Gormanstown College 29 7 St Vincents 19 8 Belvedere 18 8 Kings Hospital 16 9 Synge Street 18 9 Belvedere 15 10 Rathmines College 12 10 Rathmines College 14

These results have continued to be produced by the Templeogue Swim Club although today, Schools swimming has a different structure.

When David took over the management of the pool in the late 70’s, the Templeogue Swimming Club that we know today was started. The Club today is also different than in the 1974/1975 days and now facilitates both boys and girls from all schools in the area. However, the successes have remained and Templogue Swim Club consistently produces top quality athletes across a wide range of events in the sport.

In Leinster Schools Swimming, Templeogue College’s history of setting records is long established. In the results of the 1974/75 Leinster Schools Championships Templeogue College set two new records in the Intermediate Boys Relay events. This record breaking capacity has been maintained throughout the years.

Templeogue College still hold two of the longest held records in Leinster Schools Relay Events. The oldest of these records is standing since 1980 in the Intermediate Boys Freestyle Team Relay. In 1991, an existing Templeogue College Record was broken by another Templeogue College Team and still stands today. Of the 1991 Templeogue College Team of Brian Lee, Peter Keely, Donal Harte & Donal Lynch, three of the team members are still swimming today at the age of 22 and 23 and are still competing at the top of the sport in . It is a huge achievement to think that in 23 years no school in Leinster has been able to produce 4 swimmers who have challenged these records.

I joined the School in 1981 as a 12yr old and was swimming with the club at that time. The swimmers that I remember who were Templeogue College Pupils over the years are as follows, and apologies if I forgotten some people; Aidan Towey, Fintan Mahon, Ciaran Mahon, Ger Towey, David Towey, Michael Monks, Bert McCann, Peter Sinclair, Ray Kearney, Seamus Kennedy, Kennedy, Leonard Fearon, Gary Fearon, Karl Toomey, Barry Sinclair, Colin Potts, Brian Potts, Daithi de Faoithe, Conan de Faoithe,

David McCullagh & Templeogue College Swim Club page - 2 Phillip Fitzpatrick, John Fisher, Colm Brennan, Paul McGloughlin, Stephen Kendal, Rory Byrne, Andy Byrne, Dara Kennedy, Sean Kennedy, Damian Kendal, Neal O’Grady, Donal Lynch, Brian O’Grady, Paul Fitzpatrick, David McGloughlin, Mark McInerney, Robert Sullivan, Eoghan Dillon, Paul Donnelly, Mark Keely, Eoin Creedon, Conn McNamee, Donal Harte, Brian Lee, Peter Keely, Jim Lawless, Aidan Lawless, Daniel Dalton, Eamon Hogan, Eoin McKiernan, Conan Lee, Ben Kiernan, Brian McKiernan, Alex Cronin.

Today’s team who are still producing results on behalf of Templeogue College are Brian McNamara, Sean Carey (who is a member of the National Irish Squad), Andrew Clarke, Alan McNamara, Edward Healy and David Guilmartin.

Templeogue Swim Club has regularly placed members on Irish International Schools teams. Some of the Records from the 70’s are right >>>>

Some of the more recent club representatives on the International Schools team would have been:

Templeogue College Pupils Peter Sinclair, Ciaran Mahon, Aidan Towey, Fintan Mahon who dominated Irish Schools Swimming in the early 1980’s. Andy Byrne, Eoghan Dillon (former Irish Junior Record Holder), Paul Donnelly & Peter Keely (Templeogue College), Other Club Representatives on Irish International Schools Teams. Donncha Redmond ( – former Irish Senior Record Holder), Cliona Redmond (Loreto Stephens Green – former Irish Junior record holder), Valerie Russell (St Pauls, Greenhills – former Irish Junior Record Holder), Michael Aherne (Colaiste Eanna), Shane Aherne (Colaiste Eanna) – Representing Ireland at EuropeanYouth Olympics in 2003

The club has become and still is an invaluable asset to the community. We often take for granted the importance of sport in society. Think how many swimmers went through TSC over the last 20-22 years. There can be no doubt that David McCullagh has touched the lives of a generation of people in this community. The teaching programme operated by the pool has had a huge influence on a long list of pupils in the surrounding schools and continues to work with athletes and College Pupils at the highest levels in the sport of Swimming in Ireland

David Mc Cullagh (right) was proud of the swimmers and the club. He was proud of them not only as fine athletes, but of the fact that many as adults became his friends as I did. It is testament to his ability as a mentor that many of the coaches in the club come from the ranks of swimmers. TSC is growing and thriving to this day based on the foundation, structure and the philosophy that Dave built over the years.

As Director of Swimming in Ireland, David guided swimming through troubled times. Since the early 1990s he worked tirelessly in bringing swimming into a new era. The formation of Swim Ireland and the implementation of the recommendations of the Murphy Report changed David’s role in swimming dramatically. At this time of crisis for swimming he displayed organisational, analytical and leadership skills of an

David McCullagh & Templeogue College Swim Club page - 3 astounding degree. Without his skills, enthusiasm and persistence swimming would be looking back and not looking forward with confidence.

As the driving force of swimming, for his commitment and tireless work for to the sport he loved, we owe him a lot. Many of his friends do not believe that he got the recognition or indeed the support he deserved from within swimming.

David believed strongly in Coach education. Educational seminars became a part of the swimming year. The quest for knowledge brought some of the worlds finest coaches to Ireland. Like all good coaches David believed in planning. He was instrumental in the development of the Strategic Plan for Swimming in Ireland, a plan that he will not see implemented. But thankfully his vision is part of the future of swimming.

David will be missed. Swimming will miss his leadership, his courage, his commitment and his passion.

Fortunately, Templeogue Swim Club still retains the services of coaches who are past- pupils of Templeogue College who will continue the work of the last 20 years. Templeogue Swimming Club is going from strength to strength and has consistently finished 3rd at the Irish National Championships in the last two seasons.

The culture is supportive, progressive and positive and the Club continues to develop and pursue David’s goal of assisting as many athletes as possible to achieve the highest levels they wish in the sport of Swimming. Here’s hoping that Templeogue College and Templeogue Swim Club will continue to play a major part in Irish Swimming over the next 30 years and beyond.

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